Northern Ireland’s popular young actor Finnian Garbutt asked fans on Wednesday to support his wife and child as he enters the “final stages” of a years-long battle with cancer.
Garbutt had been in a lot of pain for the past one month and had announced that “scans have shown that the cancer has progressed rapidly in my body and I am now entering the last stage of my life”.
The 28-year-old, who plays police constable Ryan Power on the BBC crime show “Hope Street,” followed that sad announcement with a plea to fans Wednesday, asking him to lend a financial helping hand to his soon-to-be widow, Louise Agnew, and their 1 1/2-year-old daughter, Saoirse Garbutt.
“Thank you all for the outpouring of support over the last few days. I can’t believe how many people around the world have reached out and offered beautiful encouragement during this difficult time,” Finnian Garbutt said in a statement.
“I’m not posting this for sympathy and no one wants to donate if they can’t afford it. I want my wife and little one to have the life they deserve and as a provider, that’s unfortunately no longer possible.”
The actor, from Bangor in County Down, Northern Ireland, said he was diagnosed with cancer four years ago. He was determined to be terminal two years ago after the melanoma spread to his liver and lungs.
Despite these heartbreaking developments, Garbutt said Wednesday that the past four years have still had many happy moments.
“Since being diagnosed 4 years ago I have achieved many of my life goals – 30 episodes in a TV show, being the lead in a movie (coming out soon), buying my own house, marrying my best friend and being a father to the most amazing baby girl who never fails to make me smile,” he wrote about his wife, daughter and upcoming films.
